Letting Go
by LiveLifeLOUDxoxo
Summary: Maximum Ride settles into a new school and soon, her past is catching up with her. She meets the Flock and slowly, Max grows closer to Fang. With Fang, she truly discovers what trust really is. AU Former username - WhatTheFnick xFang and Iggyx
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER – No, of course I'm not James Patterson. Otherwise, I wouldn't be writing on fanfic but would be publishing books instead! Jeez! **

Chapter 1

My heart was going overload as I tried to pack my bag for the first day of school. I tried to take my mind off the infinite number of bad things that could happen. My hands shook furiously shook as I reached for my scissors in my pencil case.

"No. NO!" I screamed furiously in my head. I just needed to pack up my bag that's all. A small whimper came out of my throat as I tried to take my eyes off the scissors lying 'harmlessly' in my pencil case.

"Maximum! Stop it. Mom's gonna flip if she finds out" I chastised myself.

With a trembling hand I traces the faint pink lines sliced across my wrist. Mom had been absolutely shocked when she first found me like this…

_FLASHBACK_

_I sank into my bed as the pounding noises grew louder. I tried to tell myself that dad's probably just hammering a nail into the wall to hang up a family picture frame or something._

_But I knew better, I felt like a wimp as I let mom stand up for herself._

_The pounding started to fade away but it was soon followed by a stream of curses from my dad. I covered my ears to block out the sound. It was no use._

_I took a deep breath and pulled myself up from the bed to go downstairs. Just as my feet touched the floor, my eyes caught site of a drop of blood running down my wrist._

"_Huh? How on earth did that get there?" I whispered to myself._

_I don't remember anything like that at all. My scissors were flung on the other side of the room by my door. _

_It all came rushing back to me. The anger. The frustration. The shame. The emptiness. And… the sadness._

_I'm not the one to cry or take things to heart, but this was a new low for me._

_I padded my way across the room, put the scissors in my drawer and pulled my sleeves down to hide the cuts._

_I pulled open the door and plucked out the courage to face the fury (aka. My 'dad'). As I stepped on the landing, I looked around and saw mess everywhere, glasses were smashed, frames were flung, and ornaments were thrown all over the wooded floor and looked as if they had seen better days._

_I made my way towards a hunched figure on the sofa. Mom. I made my way over to hr and put a supportive hand on my shoulder. She raised her head and I saw all her emotions opened up to me. Pain. Sadness. Emptiness. Anger._

_Well at least I'm not the only one…_

_I looked around to see if my so-called dad was anywhere to be seen but there was no sign of him. His shoes were missing from the shoe rack on the far end of the room and so was his coat._

_I turned to mum again, "He's left again, hasn't he? He's done it again. Gotten drunk, thrown a fit, shouted and ransacked the room. That selfish little son of a b-"!_

"_MAX!" my mom told me off in the loudest voice she could even after having cried the life out of her,_

_I shot her a look that pretty much screamed, "You do know that I don't regret saying that."_

_Mom sighed and pulled me into a hug. She took my hand and started fiddling with it like sh did when she was feeling upset or confused, I absolutely forgot that I still had blood on my wrist until my she looked at it more closely and whispered in horror, "Max, what did you do?"_

_I gulped when I saw my blood-stained white shirt. No way was I gonna get away with this…_

_Ah, hell._

_END OF FLASHBACK_

I shut my eyes and asked myself why I replayed that memory again. That was 4 years ago. It was 4 years since 'dad' had left my mom and me. 4 years since he never returned after that night. 4 years since mom had decided to move on.

Now it was me, Maximum Ride and my mom, Valencia Martinez.

We had recently moved again because my mom had finally been able to find a job in a vet clinic. So this is like the millionth time I'm moving school.

I usually don't mind going to school but today, for some strange reason, there's a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach that this year us going to be full of weird and wonderful surprises. Damn you, intuition!

I sighed and zipped up my bag to get going to school. I trudged down the stairs and grabbed a cereal bar from the kitchen while reading mom's note:

**Max,**

**Sorry honey, but my shift started early today so you'll have to walk to school. There are some directions on the back so you don't get lost – hopefully. Good luck with your first day and remember – MAKE SOME FRIENDS!**

**Lots of love, Mom x**

Oh great. "I'll try and not take a detour on the way to school or something… God know how that will end," I muttered to myself.

Oh well, I needed some exercise after lazing around all summer, I guess.

"One thing's for sure, I will make an absolute epic fail at the "MAKE SOME FRIENDS" thing," I thought.

I've always sort of tried to blend in at my previous schools; sure I've had friends but none too close. I've always feared one thing about having a close friend – wanting tell them about my past.

I slung my bag over my shoulder, jammed the cereal bar into my mouth, grabbed the directions and made my way to eternal doom – or in other words, School.

**A/N Sorry about the fact that that was a bit of a boring chapter but I really needed a sort of base to start at. I seriously hope you like it and please, please, please review - they're one of the things that keep me writing!**

**Max's past will become clearer in a few chapters and also… Fang and the rest of the Flock will turn up in the next chapter! YAY! **

**Oh and I needed some ideas for the flocks surnames. Ideas and reviews are loved! **

**WhattheFnick xFang and Iggyx, signing off! **

**P.S. They are still gonna be called Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge and Angel **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**DISCLAIMER - I AM NOT JAMES PATTERSON. DUH.**

8:36 am. Oh great. My first day of school and I'm already late. Amazing start to the year, Max, Honestly. Not.

I groaned with frustration as I ascended the stairs to enter school.

I walked over the threshold and into a jam-packed hallway with students rushing around in all directions.

I pulled out my schedule and made my way to my form room, opened the door and glanced around the classroom only to see that the teacher had already packed,

"Umm…" I murmured attempting to catch the teacher's attention.

A rather young woman turned around and smiled warmly, "Ah, you must be Maximum Ride! I'm Miss Fitzgerald and welcome to Rockdale High!"

Ok… That's odd, what happened with the screeching and telling me off for being late?

"Oh, uh, hi," I greeted.

"Well, I suppose you need some help getting around school."

"Uh, yes?" I asked more than said.

"Oh, well. Jeff! Nick!" the teacher called out to the only two other students in classroom. One of them was quite tall, had strawberry blonde hair and really bright blue eyes. The other one was hunched over, packing his bag, so I couldn't really see his face.

I was just about to turn towards the teacher as the other boy stood up straight, He had jet black hair which fell into his eyes, chocolate brown eyes and –as much as I hate to say it- a really nice body… He caught my eye and I quickly turned back to the teacher, my face burning red with embarrassment.

I mentally slapped myself- what on earth was happening to me? Aaargh!

"Yes, Miss Fitzgerald?" the strawberry blonde haired boy asked.

"Would you and Nick show Maximum around? She's new so I wondered that she might need some help getting around the school."

"Sure! Fnick, come on!" he (literally) shouted. Fnick? WTF?

I swear the close that Nick dude walked towards me, the faster my heart beated.

The other guy, who must be Jeff, came up to me and grinned, "Hi, I'm Iggy and this is Fang." He pointed over to Nick (Fang? Nick? Fnick? How many names could a person have?)

"Hi, I'm, uh, Maximum. You can call me Max."

"So, what's your first lesson?"

"Uhrm, one second," I unfolded my schedule, "English with Mr Lockwood."

"Oh! Fang, don't you have that too?" Iggy/Jeff asked Fang/Nick/Fnick (!)

"Yep," wow, a man of many words.

I resisted the urge to snort and just peered over to Fang/Nick/Fnick again.

"So, well… see ya!" Iggy waved as he ran off to his class.

So that just left me and Fang/Nick/Fnick (one name is enough. Seriously!)

"Come on," he motioned for me to follow him.

I walked a little behind him, trying to memorise the root. Trust me, trying was an overstatement, it took a lot of focus for me to even watch where I was walking without drooling on the mountain of hotness right in front of me.

We were walking in a comfortable silence, but being me, I decided to ruin it by blurting, "What is your actual name?" Oh flip. I totally regret saying that now. Cringe!

Fang/Fnick/Nick just laughed and replied, "Well, my actual name is Nick Summers but I prefer to be called Fang by all of my friends. So, you can call me Fang."

He turned towards me and gave small smile. Wow. I swear my stomach started doing aerobics. Dang.

"Cool," I finally managed to say,

"Tell me a bit about you," Fang said.

"Well, uuh…" I just sorta zoned out and my head started to spin. "Ow."

I clenched my head and grimaced as the sharp pain came and quickly went away.

"Hey, are you OK?" Fang turned towards me with a questioning yet… caring look.

"Yeah, it's just that I sorta get like that when people ask me question about my life or past." My eyes widened when I realised what I just said. DAMN! Max, what the hell did you just do?

"It doesn't matter. You don't have to tell me."

Fang's eyes softened when I met his gaze.

I sighed and looked away.

"Oh, look. We're here," he said as he opened the door to the classroom.

Fang held the door open for me as I went through.

"Thanks," I muttered.

I saw that the class hadn't officially started since everyone was rambling away even though the teacher was writing on the board.

I quickly found a spare seat next to a dark, pretty girl who was about my age. I pulled out the chair and (literally) plonked down onto it.

The girl turned around, "Hiya! I'm Krystal Heavens but you can call me Nudge. All of my friends call me Nudge, so I guess you can call me Nudge as week since we are like gonna be awesome friends. I see you've already me Fang. He is so cool. Seriously, you should hang out with us, it'll be great!"

I simply answered, "Hi, I'm Maximum Ride. You can call me Max."

Nudge smiled and turned to face the front of the classroom.

I quickly shot a glance to my left and saw Fang sitting next to a red head who had horrible taste in clothing, inches of make-up and a chest the size of the universe (which, trust me, is pretty big.)

I groaned inwardly and turned around to the front of the classroom... only to be shocked when I saw my teacher.

Whoa.

**A/N I'm really sorry for not updating yesterday! I had loads of homework so I didn't have any time to write another chapter.**

**It's a bit of a boring chapter but I really had to introduce Fang. I promise to make the next one loads better! Oh and as you can tell, I tried to make Lissa as ugly as possible. Ha!**

**And for those who may be confused by Fang's surname… here is one weird explanation. Basically, I asked my friend for his surname and she chose 'Summers' because summer is hot and so is Fang... Get it? Yep, she can be slightly crazy, but that's her!**

**Character names…**

**Fang – Nick Summers**

**Nudge – Krystal Heavens**

**Iggy – Jeff Griffiths**

**Gazzy – Zephyr Griffiths**

**Angel – Angel Griffiths**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MY FIRST FEW REVIEWERS AND READERS! YAY!**

**WhatTheFnick xFang and Iggyx signing off **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**DISCLAIMER – I AM NOT JAMES PATTERSON…**

As soon as our teacher turned around, I swear all of the girls in the classroom stopped breathing. I even stopped thinking about the fugly (yes, Mean Girls reference…) redhead (**A/N no offence to any redheads, one of my closest friends is one too)** next to Fang.

'Mr Lockwood' turned out to be a guy in his early 20's (probably just got out of college) with brown hair, really dark midnight blue eyes and an amazing natural looking tan. And must I say he looked absolutely gorgeous in his waistcoat suit.

Oblivious to the sudden hoard of female attention, Mr Lockwood clapped his hands together and greeted us, "Morning class. I'm Mr Lockwood I'm going to be teaching you English this year!" He beamed to the class, "to start off the semester, we will be studying Shakespeare' 'Romeo and Juliet'. I'm sure we will have an excellent time working on this."

I took a deep breath out and was suddenly occupied by the avenging thought about 'Romeo and Juliet'. No! I am so busted.

OK, I sense your confusion. Basically, I just have this 'allergic reaction towards any soppy romances – _especially_ Romeo and Juliet. I already made a fool of myself at my old school when I was 'Juliet' and had to confess my love to 'Romeo' (aka. Ned the Nerd) [no offence to any nerds or anything…]

I was so going to fail this…EPICALLY.

Mr Lockwood was rambling on about Shakespeare and his amazing plays and all… But I just had this weird feeling that something was wrong… very wrong…

Near the end of the lesson, I was scribbling away furiously trying to finish most of the work our teacher gave us.

Mr Lockwood was walking up and down the classroom seeing how the students were coping with the (ferocious) amount of theory work he gave out. When he came down the row I was at, he stopped at my desk.

I was incredibly aware of him peering over my shoulder at my work and of the various numbers of girls glaring at me.

Attempting to ignore both of these dilemmas, I kept on writing until Mr Lockwood gently took my pen away from me and scribbled something on my paper, He put the pen down and quietly said, "Great work but make sure to take care of you spelling." His minty breath tickled my neck, giving me shivers.

By now, all of the girls were shooting glares at me… If looks could kill, man I would be in hell loads of trouble. I glanced over at Nudge and surprisingly, she wasn't shooting daggers at me, she had a hint of excitement in her eyes. I just stared at her in confusion and went back to work.

Mr Lockwood walked to the front of the classroom and told everyone to put their pens down. "You're a hard working class, I must say. Even I wasn't that good in Year Eleven." (A/N Sorry! I don't know how years at school work in America; in England we just call them in 'years'.) That earned him a few laughs from some of the students. "I won't really give you any homework but all I have to say is… be prepared for next lesson."

The bell sounded and his dismissed everyone with a hint of mischief in his eyes,

I groaned. As I was packing away, Nudge grabbed my arm and inhaled loudly, "We so need to talk! Meet me at lunch! Bye!"

Before I could reply, she sprinted out of the classroom.

I stuffed my books and pencil case and looked up to only find Fang hovering at my desk.

"Oh, hi," I said feeling rather confused and surprised.

"Hey. Forgot about me already?" He winked.

I bowed my head whilst packing my bag and tried to hide my flushed face.

Jeez,, Max, what the hell is wrong with you today?

I slung my bag onto my back and stood up.

Fang and I walked out of the classroom and I peeked over my shoulder. Mr Lockwood looked up and smiled at me.

Feeling slightly flustered, I whipped my head back and continued to follow Fang.

Attempting to make conversation, I said, "So… how long have you been living here?"

Fang thought for a while and replied, "Well, I was born here but my parents sorta travelled all over the states. I've started living here again since I was 13 but before we were in places like Alaska, California and Canada."

"Cool. So, I take it that your parent enjoy travelling."

His lips twitched at the corners and into a half-smile, "Yeah, I guess you could say that. How about you?"

"Oh, uh, my mom and I just moved from New York because she finally managed to settle in at a job, before that we moved around quite a bit as well."

"At least I'm not the only one who's had to move school a thousand times."

I laughed, "Yeah, mom has finally decided that we're gonna settle down here for quite a while since her job at the vet clinic is pretty decent so far."

"Oh, so your mom's a vet. That is actually pretty cool."

Fang looked over at me and smiled.

"So, what about your dad?" he asked.

My cheerful mood suddenly dropped and I shifted uncomfortably.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to say anything to hurt you or anything…." Fang looked over at me and I saw that his eyes were full of concern.

"Nah, its fine," I said but I could feel my shoulders sagging.

The next lesson passed quickly and it was already lunchtime.

I walked out the classroom and found Fang standing outside by the door.

"Hey," I said as I walked over to him.

"Hiya. I thought you might need someone to go to lunch."

"Yeah, thanks."

We walked over to the cafeteria and got out lunch. Fang leaded me over to a table and we sat down. I was just about to dig into my pizza when Nudge plonked down next to me and Iggy sat down next to Fang.

"HI, MAX!" she practically screeched.

"Hi!" I tried to hide my shock and surprise but I seemed to have failed miserably because Iggy was trying to control his laughter and Fang was smirking and had an amused look in his eyes.

"So… wasn't Mr Lockwood like so totally awesome? God, he had amazing eyes." Instantly, Nudge looked up at the sky (well, ceiling in our case) with a dreamy look in her eyes and I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes.

The table took on a rather awkward silence after Nudge's statement.

Thankfully, Iggy broke it by saying, "So, do you know how to make bombs?"

I just stared at him wide eyed in confusion and horror while Nudge and Fang burst into hysterics.

"WHAT?" Iggy exclaimed.

Fang looked at me and said, "Ignore him, he and his little brother, Zephyr –Gazzy- are absolutely nuts about explosions. You'll just have to live with it."

He smiled and everyone went back to eating and talking about various incidents that happened over the holidays.

When the bell sounded for the end of the day, we all said good bye (which consisted of a high five from Iggy that left a huge red mark on my hand, a less painful high five from Fang and gigantic, suffocating hug from Nudge) and I guess it was safe for mw to tell my mom that I had made some cool friends after all.

**A/N Whoa, that took a LONG time to type up! Sorry for the late update but I was so lazy over past few days and couldn't be bothered to type up the next chapter. Sorry! **

**I hope you liked the chapter and remember to review! PLEASE! **

**WhatTheFnick xFang and Iggyx signing off**


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: Now tell me, do I look , smell or even taste (I even know where that one came from .. but its for the effect!) like James Patterson. NO. I thought so. So obviously, me doesn't own Maximum Ride or the characters (other than Mr Lockwood). **

**Chapter 4 **

The rest of the week was awesome- well, duh of course it was… Fang was there! God, I'm turning into such a girl.

It was Saturday afternoon and I decided to explore the town which I would have to put up with for the next few years. My stomach was starting to rumble so I decided to scoff down some grub at the nearest diner or something.

The so-called diner turned out to be a really cosy, but packed, Starbucks. I went up to the counter and ordered some black coffee and a yummy croissant with tomatoes and melted cheese. Ahh, Heaven on a plate! I paid a couple of bucks and looked around to find some spare seats to sit in. My eyes caught sight of an empty window seat next to a guy who was leaning over the table.

I made my way towards the seat and sat down. Just as I was going to dig into my food, the guy next to me turned around and said, "Hello."

Feeling slightly confused, because the only guys I knew around here were Fang and Iggy and this dude seriously didn't sound like them, I slowly turned around and said, "Uuh… hi…?"

As soon as I saw the dude's face, my eyes widened slightly. 'The dude' just happened to be Mr Lockwood.

"Don't I recognize you from one of my English classes?" He asked.

"Oh, um yeah, I had English with you earlier this week on Monday."

He held out his hand and, reluctantly, I shook it.

"So, umm, Mr Lockwood, how's life?" Shit, did I really just ask that?

He laughed, "First off, you can call me Stefan, since we're not in school or anything, and life is actually pretty good? How about you?"

"Life's pretty cool for me as well, I just moved here about a week ago so I'm still getting to know people and the place itself."

"Where did you move from?"

"New York."

"Wow, big move."

"Yeah, I guess so…"

I went back to eating (well, nibbling) on my food when Mr Lockwood, or Stefan, got up.

"I guess I'd better get going then. It's been wonderful getting to know you."

I blushed slightly, "Awesome."

"So…bye."

"See ya!" Oh God, did I just enthusiastically say 'see ya' to a teacher? Well, that's a first…

He smiled and took off **(A/N Ha, makes him sound like a plane or something. –snort-).**

I saw him walking outside the café's window, he waved at me and I waved back.

Just as I was going to get back to eating, I saw Fang standing outside the music store opposite the café, glaring at me.

Hmph. What's his beef? I gave him a confused look and once again, tried to finish my food and then (once again…) I got interrupted by my phone ringing. All about interrupting are we today?

I looked at the caller name, 'Unknown'. OK… I hesitantly pressed the answer button and waited for the person to say something.

Nothing.

I waited some more. Nothing again.

By now, I was feeling more and more impatient, "Hello?" I demanded.

Still no answer.

Just as I was going to hang up, I heard some heavy breathing… and then the mysterious (…) caller hung up on me.

"Creepy or what?" I muttered to myself.

I was staring at my phone screen as if a magic Buddha or genie may pop up and say (in the uber cool Indian accent), "I will now make all your worries go away. Don't worry, there is no evil physco stalking you. Have a good day!" As if.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed and a 'New Message' alert popped up. I opened my inbox and read the message. I started to feel even more freaked when I realised that 1) The sender was listed as 'Unknown' and 2) The message was completely and utterly blank.

I sighed and pulled myself off from the stool and tried to get home quickly.

Well, Max, what have we achieved today?

**(A/N God, I love writing these little random list things. Feel free, you can call me odd…)**

I am like BFFs (note sarcasm) with my (extremely hot) English teacher, STEFAN.

My ACTUAL, supposedly, best friend glared at me for reasons entirely unknown.

It seems as though I have a creepy stalker who loves sending me blank texts and phone calls which only consist of breathing. Wow, what a conversational pair are we? Hmm?

**A/N. Yes, go ahead and throw evil energizer bunnies at me – I have finally updated after about uhh… many weeks. In my opinion, this was actually a pretty crap chapter BUT I had to put the physco calls and texts in somewhere. Oh and sorry about the length, it's the shortest chapter so far - eek! :/**

**So please review my angels (…), you know you want to…**

**PS. If you are so kind enough to review, please give your opinion on Mr Lockwood. Right now, I'm having mixed feelings about him. Hmmm…**

**PPS. If you visited my profile, you may have noticed that I won't be updating for another week or so. I am actually extremely sorry! Eeek! **

**WhatTheFnick xFang and Iggyx **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**DISCALIMER: I DO NOT. I REPEAT... DO NOT OWN MAXIMUM RIDE. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?**

I woke up on Sunday morning (well 12pm…which is actually MY morning) to the constant ringing of the doorbell. Being the oh-so efficient daughter I am, I slugged out of bed and went to the bathroom instead.

I brushed my teeth, sat on the loo to expel waste material (sorry...TMI!), washed my hands, washed my face blah, blah, blah. But, just as I was about to jump into the shower, I could hear my mom shouting at me accompanied by the notorious (…) ringing of the doorbell. Was this person EVER going to give up?

"MAX! MAX! MAX!" my mom called, well screamed like a banshee to be more precise.

I sighed and threw open the bathroom door and came face-to-face with my slightly flustered, under-dressed mom and a random dude in his pants.

My jaw dropped and my eyes popped open like a deer in front of headline. Well, this is gonna be a problem…

"Yes, mother dearest?" I asked with exaggerated sweetness.

"Why are you still in your pyjama's and go and answer that doorbell?" Someone's feeling stressy today…

Fuming, I retorted, "Well, I would be asking you the same thing!"

I pushed passed her and ran towards the door. Flinging it open, still full of anger, I saw a very bored looking Fang who was constantly ringing the doorbell.

"Ah-hem?"

"Huh?" He finally caught sight of me, "Oh, sorry…" Fang smiled sheepishly.

I raised an eyebrow, "Yo, what are you doing here and how do you know where I live?"

He waggled his eyebrows and smiled deviously, "I have my connections…"

I slapped him arm, "No, really, how?"

"Nudge."

"Oh…I think I told her during the week…You could've just asked me."

"Well, one thing is, I didn't want to disturb you." He gestured to my t-shirt and trackies.

"Oh, come on! It's the weekend, I deserve to sleep in!"

He snorted and asked, "Well, can I come in now?"

It was my turn to smile sheepishly, "Oh, uh, yeah sorry!"

He rolled his eyes and came in, "Nice place you got here…"

I laughed, "Yeah, mom promised to pick a nice house for once," I told him, "So…what do you want to do?"

"I dunno…I just thought it would be cool to hang out for a while – sorry for the whole 'uninvited' thing."

"Nah, its fine - make yourself at home." I plopped onto the couch and Fang followed suite.

"So…" I attempted to make a conversation.

"Uh…"

"Awkward."

"Your face is awkward."  
With exaggerated slowness, I turned around and gave him a glare that would make a grown man start doing shitties on the spot. Fang held my gaze and finally held his hands up in mock surrender.

"Too late…"

I grabbed a cushion and so began the fight…

I hit him on the head and he dell onto the couch, not moving a muscle. He gave up? So fast? I sat back onto the couch, trying to think about what he was going to do.

Too late – again.

Fang bombarded me with a cushion and fell on top of me and we rolled off the couch, both constantly hitting each other with cushions. Our hysterical laughter died down when Fang dropped his cushion and grabbed hold of my wrist.

"Max?" His voice was full of surprise and anger.

"Huh?" I sat upright and saw what he was looking at-the faint scars on my forearm.

Oh, shitty bum bum… (A/N. sorry…but I just HAD to add that…)

I snatched my wrist but Fang pulled it back again.

"Why? Why do you do this?" His voice was steely and cold – back to the emotionless Fang I met at first.

I just started at my arm, my face blank – not daring to give away any signs of fear or sadness.

"Max!" He urged me, then, in a softer voice, he pleaded, "You can tell me, Max."

Tears threatened to spill but I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, "No."

He pulled me into an embrace and held on for what seemed like forever. This time, I didn't even try to resist the tears. Fang rested his chin on top of my head and murmured soothing words.

I pulled back and stared into his onyx eyes (A/N sighs…if only that was me…)

"Do you want to tell me? I'll understand if you don't want to." I looked back into his eyes and I saw that he truly did understand – maybe there was more to Fang that I didn't know yet…

Did I want to tell him? Yes. _Should_ I tell him? Yes, but… I've only known this dude for a week. Did I _trust_ him? I hope so, because, before I could control them, I spilled the beans.

Every. Single. Bloody. One of them.

When I finished, Fang looked at me with understanding eyes – I didn't leave as single detail out – even up to this morning's melodrama. I rested my head on his chest, both of us leaning against the couch. I looked up to him and saw the sadness and…longing… in his eyes. My breath hitched when I noticed how close we were – our noses almost touching. Ever so slightly, he leaned toward me and his mouth met mine. His lips were as soft as velvet – yes, do mind the cliché, but was true! -, it started off as a small kiss but it turned into something more. Before I knew it, my hands were raked in his soft hair and his hands were clasped around my waist. I was losing control of myself but I didn't try and stop. We pulled back, both of us breathing heavily. I leaned back a bit, trying to process what had just happened.

Fang was about to say something but my mom interrupted by trudging down the stairs, "Max, what's with all the…" She trailed off as her eyes landed on Fang, "Who's this?" She was trying to be nice but my mom had one rule – never to let boys in without her permission.

He stood up and held out his hand, "Hello, I'm Nick Summers, Max's friend." My mom took in his politeness and charm - …forget I even said that… - and finally shook his hand.

"Ah, nice to meet you Nick! Max's finally making some friends!" She said, trying to meet my eyes but I refused.

She took a deep breath, "Well, then… I'm just going out for a while with Peter," she gestured to the dude from this morning, who had his arm slung over her shoulder.

She said goodbye and left to do something that I couldn't care less about.

When the door closed, I slouched onto the sofa and threw my head back and moaned.

Fang sat next to me, I tried to hide my blush by turning my head the other way but he had already seen it. He smirked and – of all questions- asked, "Where the hell is the bathroom?"

I raised my eyebrow, " Uh… up the stairs, first thing door on the left."

He rushed up the stairs and I laughed. Fang shouted down the stairs, "HEY! We've all got needs!" This only made me laugh even harder.

When I sobered down, Fang's mobile started to ring. I peered over and looked at the caller ID. Brigid. Oh, that red-headed cow.

I let it ring and instead, I indulged myself in a magazine… a rock music magazine, if ya'll were jumping to conclusions.

Finally, Fang arrived, "Yo."

I put down 'Kerrang!' and saluted, "YO!"

He rolled his eyes,

"Oh, your phone was ringing."

"Oh, thanks. Who was it?"

Brigid…only I didn't say that. "Dunno - couldn't be assed to check." Lie.

Fang smirked at my excuse, "Brigid," he muttered as he checked his phone. He re-dialled the number and Brigid's nasal voice shrieked through the speaker, "Oh, Fangy! Where are you? Did you forget our date?"

Ouch. Why the hell did he kiss me when he already had a girlfriend? I kept on my 'bored' face – not daring to give away any true emotions.

I rolled my eyes at Fang's lame excuse, "Uh…no…I was...um...busy…?"

"Oh, well then. Come on, Fangy! I'm,waiting!"

"Cool, uh, bye."

When I put the phone down, I teased him, "Well you better get going, _Fangy. _I don't want to spoil your _date!"_ The hint of annoyance was clear and deliberate.

He sighed, "Whatever. Um… bye then."

He tried to lighten the mood by smiling but I just crossed my arms and looked at him with pure disgust.

"No need to make it more awkward. _Brigid's _waiting for you!" I half-sneered.

Fang seemed to be taken aback by my behaviour which truly… I was as well. I guess boys DO bring out the diva side in me – not that I've ever experienced it before. He looked slightly hurt so I added, "Bye, FANGY!"

He rolled his eyes, gave me the finger and left.

I made my way toward the kitchen half-heartedly.

Why was I so disappointed? Surely Fang deserved way more than me. Perhaps the kiss was a mistake after all. And… I still forgot to ask him about the glare he gave me yesterday – in fact, he didn't even mention seeing me with Mr. Lockwood – pardon me, Stefan – at all.

Life just keeps on getting better and better….

**A/N Yes… go ahead and kill me. I deserve it… well probably. I haven't been able to update for several reasons:**

**I've had way too much homework**

**I'm starting my revision for my summer exams – eek!**

**I haven't been feeling well for the past few weeks.**

**My life has been a bit of mish mash… school and stuff has been making it seriously complicated…**

**So please please please (EMPHASISE!) forgive me and… here's more bad news… I probably won't be updating in a while because of the summer revision and I'm preparing to do some hardcore (…) revision… **

**So REVIEW AWAY PEOPLE!**

**PS. I have also found a new obsession – WATTPAD! For all of you who haven't heard of it, I thoroughly advise you to check it out. It's basically a websit fo reading free ebooks – including fanfictions – but by authors who haven't published their stories.**

**So… PEACE OUT! xx**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N YO YO YO! Well…pleaseee don't murder me! Aaaah! (If you can't be bothered to read all of this, skip to the important part (it says Oh, and IMPORTANT!) for more info on the next chapter) and the very last bit telling you guys before my goodbye)**

**I seriously apologize for not updating – like seriously sorry! Eeek! So… yeah…uhrmm…wait one sec *scratches invisible/non-existent beard for effect* oh yeah. The reason why I didn't update is because of…FRIGGIN' REVISION! I've got exams coming up in a few weeks so I was like doing some serious (now way...) hard-core (…) revision (NOOO!) Trust me…I was re-reading the first few scenes of Romeo and Juliet for English and I was like totally grossed out by how disgusting and pervy the first page of act 1 scene 1 is…Eeuurgh. I mean, if you read it in context and actually concentrate on what the words mean, it's quite disgusting…**

**Moving on…oh, I have a confession to make. I am seriously scared of reading Angel. Like SERIOUSLY! Don't you just hate JP for destroying FAX? I mean…MYLAN? Ewww…anyways, Dylan is like a toddler, kid or whatever in a teenage body. Why is Max supposed to be with him – Fang and Max are destined! Ok, just ignore how weird the last part sounded… **

**Well, my faithful reviewers… I am quite disappointed in you. Peeps, come one! I only had one review for the last chapter but like 10 subscribers (which btw I love you guys for subscribing/favourit-ing (hehe new word)) but please be a little more committed – reviews are like chocolate chip cookies to me – which btw are heaven, if you don't know, which I'd be quite shocked if you didn't. Well, HERE IS A HUGGGEE THANK YOU TO… Fly On Maximum Taylor Ride. I think you are a very committed fan! Here's a cyber chocolate cookie (which in my world, are real)! :D**

**Anyways...I think I have some things to share with you…**

**Well, the other day (night? Morning? Oh I dunno!)I had this dream that a really hot guy came and 'kidnapped' me – he claimed he was helping me. I have no flippin' clue what his name was, but this is what happened:**

**For some odd reason I was outside my house in my owl pjs with wet hair **

**I went over to his car**

**I got in**

**He wouldn't speak to me**

**We went to McDonald's and he bought me a big mac. I told him I was a vegetarian.**

**My mum woke me up telling me that it was 11:00 in the morning.**

**I have the lamest dreams…**

**Oh, and IMPORTANT! **

**I have written a draft of the first half of chapter 6 (it's probably going to be split into 2 parts), I was about to upload it but I seemed way too morbid – it tells you about another part of Max's life. Here's a bit of a hint:**

**IT INVOVLES WHITECOATS! And…another character and…another mystery.**

**Ok so that was NOT one hint, but hey…I'm trying to be nice – I was about to write an extract but it gave way too much away.**

**Well, here's a song I would like to share with you…I'm addicting to it – this sh*t getz old by Never Shout Never. **

**And…Last Kiss by Taylor Swift is THE song for the end of FANG:**

_I still remember the look on your face_

_Been through the darkness at 1:58_

_The words that you whispered for just us to know_

_You told me you loved me so why did you go away, go away (*sniffs*)_

_I do recall now the smell of the rain_

_Fresh on the pavement, I ran off the plane_

_That July 9th the beat of your heart_

_It jumps through your shirt, I can still feel your arms (imagine…Max and Fang cuddled together on the little Hawk cave place)_

_But now I'll go sit on the floor wearing your clothes (Max will probably do that…)_

_All that I know is I don't know_

_How to be something you miss_

_Never thought we'd have a last kiss_

_Never imagined we'd end like this_

_Your name, forever the name on my lips (poor Max *sniffle*)_

_I do remember the swing of your step_

_The life of the party, you're showing off again (ok…not really Fang)_

_And I roll my eyes and then you pulled me in_

_I'm not much for dancing but for you did_

_Because I loved your handshake, meeting my father (Fang? Jeb? Handshake? Heck no!)_

_I love how you walk with your hands in your pockets_

_How you'd kiss me when I was in the middle of saying something (awwww)_

_There's not a day I don't miss those rude interruptions_

_And I'll go, sit on the floor wearing your clothes_

_All that I know is I don't know_

_How to be something you miss_

_Never thought we'd have a last kiss_

_Never imagined we'd end like this_

_Your name, forever the name on my lips, ohh_

_So I'll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep_

_And I'll feel you forget me like I use to feel you breathe_

_And I'll keep up with our old friends just to ask them how you are (not really.. since fang left ALL of them)_

_Hope it's nice where you are_

_And I hope the sun shines and it's a beautiful day_

_And something reminds you, you wish you had stayed (Fang. Never. Should. Have. Left.) _

_We can plan for a change in weather and time_

_I never planned on you changing your mind_

_So, I'll go, sit on the floor wearing your clothes_

_All that I know is I don't know_

_How to be something you miss_

_I never thought we'd ever last kiss_

_Never imagined we'd end like this_

_Your name, forever the name on my lips_

_Just like our last kiss, forever the name on my lips_

_Forever the name on my lips, just like our last (*full out sobbing*)_

**Ok…Am I the only one who actually on the verge of tears? That is their perfect song. I need a moment…That has left me touched (*sniffle*). Sorry, about that, peeps.**

**So…I would appreciate ANY ideas. And…if you do, I might just add you into the story in the near future. I'll send an author's not to notify you about it (if it happens…most likely will). So remember ideas = possible place in 'Letting Go'.**

**Bye then. Have a great Easter and remember…feel free to tell me about your faxness woes – because of the end of FANG, I am very scared of reading Angel. **

**xXSk8erGirlXx :D**

**Hello…anyone there…an extra cyber cookie for those who actually read all of this. Ha :P**


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER – I AM NOT, IN ANY SHAPE OR FORM, JAMES PATTERSON SO I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS FROM MAXIMUM RIDE…man, I hate writing these things…**

Chapter 6

When I woke up in the morning, I still couldn't stop thinking about the kiss…And not in the good way. Had Fang only kissed me because he was feeling sorry for me? Does it mean that it was a mistake? I know we've barely known each other but I could never survive without him- there I said it. I could never lose someone else in my life…one was more than enough.

Basically, my dad, Jeb Batchelder, went all abusive; he used to be as weird…but in a different sense. He had an obsession with science experiments. The obsession existed since he was in high school, over the years it started to increase, eventually he married mom which –sort of- took his mind 'away from things'. A few years later, I was born, Jeb stayed with mom and me but when I was about 7, he opened up his own lab. Immediately, things started going downhill – he started doing experiments on animals, implanting things like wings on wingless creatures, mixing genes and creating weird crossbreeds. My mom was furious when she found out about this. They started arguing, but at the time that was just about it – the abusing was yet to come…

Soon, my mom had another baby, Ari. He was my brother and meant the world to me. Sure I got jealous of him and maybe even hated him from time to time because of all the attention he got, but he was my brother and I loved him. Mom thought that after Ari's birth, Jeb would take a break but he still continues the freak experiments.

One day, when I was about 11 and Ari was 5, Jeb took us out; Ari and I thought it was just a family outing – except without mom. Little did we know that our lives were on the line. Secretly, Jeb took us to his lab. … I don't know what Jeb did but he sure was clever enough to disguise the lab because from the outside it looked like a normal building but on the inside it was well…a full tech lab. At our arrival, Ari and I were dragged off and locked into cages. I struggled to get out but no amount of banging would budge the locks. After hours- well that's what it felt like to me- a group of scientist in white coats, massive nerd glasses and nervous twitches came and, with a lot of effort, picked up my cage. I cried Ari's name but my cage opened and I was dragged out. The last memory of my Ari was of him all alone in his cage, his eyes were wide, fearful and bloodshot, pleading his big sister to save him, his cheeks stained with tears and his body curled up into a foetal shape, making him look even more fragile and young. That was the last time I saw my Ari.

I couldn't remember what happened to me after that, all I remembered was the pure, white room with rows and rows of machinery. The whitecoats opened to cage and pulled me out. I tried to struggle but their grips became firmer, their fingers digging into my skin. They brutally pushed me onto a hospital bed and after that, everything went black because I had been heavily sedated.

When I woke up, I was wearing a white hospital gown but I could still see the scars all over my arms and legs and the pricks in my skin where I presumed they had injected me. I looked around and saw that the room was deserted other than me and a bunch of lifeless machinery.

Before, anyone could come in and catch me I sprinted out of the room even though my whole body was sore. (Trust me I was a badass 11 year old…) I looked in each room for him but he was nowhere, all I found were mutated creatures looking up at me from cages like the one I was in. They looked at me with needy eyes, begging me to save them, their expressions were frightful and still haunt me today… Still, I ran until I crashed into Jeb. I begged him to tell me where Ari was but he didn't utter a single word, instead he forced me into the car and drove me home.

I don't know what Jeb had told her but after that, mom kept on arguing with Jeb. Soon, it turned out to be something more, the abusing began Mom tried to tell the police that he was the prime suspect of the murder of his own son. They couldn't believe her, they told her, 'Ma'am, I'm sure there is another cause to your son's death. You have no evidence and I'm afraid we can do nothing about it.' I tried to speak up but who would listen to me- a weak and feeble 11 year old? Everyone told me I was being delusional, that it was the aftermath of my brother's death and all the stress I had been going through. Even so, Jeb was sent to jail, not for the account of murder but of physical abuse. Mom and I proved them by showing us our cuts and bruises, mom's medical accounts of stress, the time when I went to hospital due to internal bleeding…but of course, my mom restricted me from telling them the truth when he actually abused us, she was too scared to speak up, too afraid to stand up for us because of some dumb ass alcoholic of a husband… But things got worse and she fessed up and from there, Jeb was finally sent to jail. Everyone had proof to know what a twisted man Jeb was. However, the lab stayed a secret, I tried to tell them all the…things I saw there but I was only dubbed as being mental…they even sent me to a check up to see if I needed to go to an asylum – thank god I didn't…

A few weeks later, after the trials and court sessions, Ari's funeral was held, a funeral without the body. He was 'buried' in the local cemetery in Arizona where we had grown up in. Mom and I still visit his grave. A grave without a body. A grave of a boy whose death was a mystery…

**A/N OK…here we go…I AM SOOOOOOOO SORRY! I actually am! It's just that because of summer exams, I've barely had time to update…. But wohhooooo – they finished today! So yes…I promise to update again during this week – if I don't, I permit you to chuck cyber tomatoes at me…tehe**

**Soo… I'm sorry that Fang wasn't in this chapter and that it wasn't very long but I will try and make the next one even better! Oh and I need your opinions on how to prank Brigid – I want to make her punish! Sure I made her Fang's 'girlfriend' but Max needed to let her boy-conscious side out and make her fess up that she does have feelings for Fang!**

**Oh and I need to tell you guys something I did today…basically, in my geography exam, it said to list a national park in England and one in Wales. So, being me, I didn't know the question to one of the most easiest questions on the paper and wrote something really stupid. I wrote:**

**Lake District national park**

**Sandy Balls national park**

**HAH. Once I wrote that, I couldn't stop laughing…well I DID actual see an advert for it on tv it said 'sandy balls national park' and had two people cycling down a very…sandy path. I seriously can't wait to see what my teacher wrote for that tehe… AND, I've got some really dopey friends – one of them forgot that mammoths were extinct and wrote that walruses where found in the south pole and the other one started drawing a silver and gold indian elephant on the back of her paper. o.O **

**And also, how weird is it that my latin translation paper was on a drunk dude who started throwing chicken and fruit at his wife…haha**

**Well, I better get going now…these author's notes are getting seriously long!**

**And remember – an idea = a possible place in my story in the future! Woop! **

**So…read, review, fav and subscribe – no pressure…tehe**

**:P**


	8. Chapter 8

**AUTHORS NOTE – VERY IMPORTANT!**

I am currently working on the next chapter of 'letting go' but **I NEED AN OC**. If you can recall the hugggeeee authors note i wrote ages ago, I said that if you give any ideas then you will have a place in my story in the near future. I will only have about 4 or 5 ocs so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give me details - dw they don't have to be real.

**If you want to be an oc here's what you will have to fill:**

Name/Nicknames

Age

Hair colour

Eye colour

Personality

Hobbies (probably)

What relation do you want to have to the flock (don't get ya hopes high, no more girlfriends for fang)

**THE FIRST ONE TO FILL THIS IN WILL BE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. IF YOU'RE NOT THE FIRST, DON'T WORRY, YOU CAN STILL ENTER TO HAVE A CHANCE TO BE IN 'LETTING GO' IN THE NEAR FUTURE.**

**I've written up the first bit of the next chapter but I need an oc! So…the sooner someone reviews, the sooner you'll get a new chapter!**

Ps. Do you guys want ella in this story or not? If you do, what relation should she have to max and the flock and how should she come into the story?

Ella should:

Be Jeb's illegitimate child

Be adopted – dr. m thinks max should have someone to talk to or something…

Be nudge's best friend and then share a sisterly bond with max.

Be dr. m's broyfriend's daughter from a previous relationship and then form a sisterly bond with max.

MUST I SAY IT AGAIN? REVIEWS AND IDEAS PEEPS! AND POSSIBLY A WAY TO PISS OFF/PRANK BRIGID CUZ I'M JUST SO UTTERLY MEAN LIKE THAT… TEHE :P

PEACE X


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER: I-A-M-N-O-T-J-A-M-E-S-P-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N-I-N-A-N-Y-S-H-A-P-E-O-R-F-O-R-M**

**SOZZICLESS..THIS CHAPTER HASN'T BEEN PROOF READ SO THERE WIL BE SH!T LOADS OF SPELLING AND GRAMMAR MISTAKES..OOPS**

**Chapter 7**

After recalling that rather morbid flashback, I tried to keep my longing for the physical pain from coming back. Now that he knew, Fang was bound to check.

I rather sloppishly (a/n woah new word alert) had a shower and got ready for another day at school. I was in no rush since:

I didn't really want to talk to mom

Things were gonna be seriously awkward between me and Fang due to the…incident -lets not say the 'k' word, it'll only unleash my rabid teenage hormones-and my hissy fit.

I was dreading English – Romeo and Juliet *gulp*

Getting all the morning's business out of the way, I opened the front door and, as slowly as possible, made my way to school (I mean, I could've started crawling, sliding on the floor like a snail or stared walking like a zombie but that may have just sparked a teeny tiny more attention than I hoped for…and I would be dubbed as a complete and utter freak)

I looked up at the clear blue sky and the glistening sun beating down on me, but I just couldn't enjoy the amazing weather. Unlike everyone else, who had gotten out their summer clothing even though it was September, I had stuck with black skinny jeans and a baggy dark blue sweater on top of a black tank top. My shoe laces were undone, my beat up high-tops looked as if they had seen better days and my hair was out of its ponytail, streaming down my shoulders in all of its messy glory – just the way I liked it,

They walk to school had only lasted about 10 minutes – way shorter than I'd expected. Students were pouring in through the school gates in their schmancy cars whilst others couldn't get their lousy asses up and just hitched rides. Unlike some people, I like to stay fit, healthy, lovin' my fruit and veg…not.

So, being me, I charged through the car park (a/n lol that makes her sound like a bull...tehe) and went to my locker. Well, I get halfway there until a certain obstacle popped up. Fang was casually leaning on my locker, all entwined with Brigod and her redhead glory…sucking face. Where the fu** is his dignity? Hmph.

I cleared my throat loudly, catching the attention of the glorious couple.

I glared at them while Brigid met my glare with a bitchy smirk.

In all her redhead, nasal, preppy royalty, "What do you think you're doing her, bitch?"

"This is my locker! So if you could moves your fat ass, I would highly appreciate it!"

Brigid huffed and dragged Fang off into the homeroom. Fang was trying to meet my gaze but I refused and pulled open my locker, angrily stuffing my books into mu rucksack.

I could literally feel the friggin' annoyance radiating off me. Grrr…what the hell is happening to me? Moving here had seriously damaged my pride.

I quickly composed myself before barging into the homeroom. Brigid had hogged my usual seat next to Fang so I just took the empty seat next to Iggy because the person next to him had vamooshed or something…

"Yo, yo, yo!" Iggy greeted over-enthusiastically.

"Hey," I grumbled.

Iggy raised an eyebrow, eager to know what had gotten under my skin. I just glowered at him and turned back to the front of the class. He let out an exasperated sigh when the teacher started to refister us.

"Annie…"

"Here."

"Grace…"

"Here."

"Sam…"

Nobody answered.

"Sam?"

"Oh, right, sorry…Here,"

I turned around to so who 'Sam' actually was. He turned out to be a very cute guy, with shaggy 'skater' hair and emerald green eyes which had a mischievous glint in them. As if he noticed me staring, he smiled at me. I quickly turned around, my stomach fluttering. WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON WITH ME?

"You're just growing up…." my inner Buddha conscience echoed. Don't worry, I'm not going crazy or anything – I'm not hearing voices…cuz that would be reaaallly freaky…

I could feel someone's star burning into my back. I turned around…only to see Fang glaring daggers at me. '_Whaaatt?'_ I furrowed my eyebrows questioningly at him and turn back around.

The thought hit me with a bang – OH…MY…GOD…GAN WAS JEALOUS! Pah! Trust me, making an emotionless dude jelous seriously makes your day and well…makes you feel proud, in a way.

'…Max,'

'Uh, yeah.'

'Fang…'

'Yeah,' he answered casually, still managing to sound uber sexy. Oops...there I go again…

'Courtney…'

'Yup,' a girl about my age answered. She had dark brown hair with a seriously cool feather in her hair, her eyes were a really pretty emerald green. She glanced this way, I smiled at her but then I realised that she wasn't looking at me…*AWKWARD TURTLE* She was looking at someone behind me – Iggy. They seemed to be sharing a silent joke because Iggy started to snigger. Hmmm…they must be friends already…

I looked back at her but she was already packing up to leave, she was animatedly talking to another girl. I recognized the other girl from my Biology class. Uuh…what was her name again…think...think…think…OH! I remember…it was Avery-Dru. She didn't really hang out with anyone but it seems that she was quite close with this Courtney girl.

I was about to go up to them and talk but something stopped me from going further. I felt my phone vibrating from my pocket so I quickly ran out of the classroom and into the toilets. I looked around and saw that no one was in here – phew. I looked at the caller ID 'Unknown.' *Gulp*

Weighing my chances of my fate, I decided to have another 'inner conflict' with myself'.

The sane side of me said, 'Max, you don't know who it is…ignore it. If they hear you then there'll be a higher chance of them knowing who you are.'

The reckless side of me said, "ANSWER IT! What've you got to lose?"

Being me, I leaned onto my reckless side and ANSWERED THE DAMN THING!

**A/N I AM AWFULLY SORRY ABOUT THE LATE LATE LATE UPDATE..I swear I always say that..**

**Its just that I've been having a really difficult past few weeks…cuz of like EVERYTHING! So… I would go on and ramble like I always do but I gotta rush cuz I've got a biology field trip tomorrow and I have to have shower early so I can straighten my hair before bed… sooo..literlly just like 5 minutes ago, I went to the old creepy shed in my back garden to get my wellies.. (OMG I JUTS TYPED IN WELLIES AND WORD AUTOCORRECTED IT TO WILLIESSS! NO JOKE..NOW ITS GOT THAY ANNOYING RED LINE CUZ I CHANGED IT BACKK…) and I touched a mouldy dead fly, stepped in a deep puddle in my flip flops and wrecked half the shed…was it really worth for a pair of wellies…? hmm?**

**SO …THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS – I LOVE YOU GUYS FOR IT! IM SORRY TO THOSE WHO I DIDN'T REPLY – I HAVENT REALLY BEEN ON FANFIC FOR LIKE A MONTH AND HAD SOOO MUCH STUFF ON MY MIND… I PROMISE TO YOU GUYS ILL START REPLYING AGAIN ;) **

**Sooo…what have you guys been up to? I'm just freakishly curious like that… soooo I've got looaddss of hilarious things to tell you guys but I seriously gotta go otherwise my brother will come and hog the bathroom…hahaaaa he is officially a bathroom hogger. Sooo TELL ME RANDOM STUFF – I NEED SOME CHEERING UP PEEPS! OH AND SOME REALLY GOOD FANFICS – IM IN SERIOUS NEED OF THOSE! CHEER ME UP I'LL COUNT ON YOU GUYS TO DO THAT...PLUS MY BFF HASN'T BEEN FEELING WELL FOR LIKE THE PAST FEW MONTHS…CAN YOU GUYS WISH HER WELL? SHE'LL LOVE YOU FOR THAT I'LL MAKE HER REPLY TO THEM TOMORROW CUZ SHE'S COMING ROUND . **

**THANKS **

**PS CONGRATS TO 'VIVALAKATEE' AND '' FOR BEING THE CHOSEN OCS…DW TO THE REST OF U – ILL TRY AND SQUEEZE SOME MORE OF YOU IN THE NEAR FUTURE YIPPEEE!**

** OCS WILL COME IN MORE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER**

**PPPS…WHY AM I WRITING IN CAPITALSS? YH..I'M STARTING TO ADD RANDOM LETTERS TO MY MESSAGES…ABOUT A MINUTE AGO, MY FRIEND WAS LIKE 'WHY ARE YOU HISSING AT ME?' CUZ I WROTE 'YES IT ISSSS' AND 'OOPSSSSS'.**

**PPPPS JUST CURIOUS – DO YOU GUYS LIKE MY RANDOM AUTHORS NOTES – DO TELL **

**LUVV UUU (IN THE LEAST PERVERTED WAY POSSIBLE..)**

**LIVELIFELOUDXOXO (YEAH..I CHANGED MY USERNAME AGAIN)**


	10. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER – I DON'T OWN MAXIMUM RIDE OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.**

As soon as I pressed the receive button I knew that I had made a huge mistake. I took a shaky breath and answered, "H-h-h-ello…?"

The caller bellowed a laugh (a/n does that make sense…oh well). No answer.

My patience was already running thin, the first time this dude called there was no answer and the same thing seems to be happening this time. "Hello? Whoever you are, please just answer or something! I mean…isn't that what a phone is for – talk bitch talk! If you don't then it'll be a complete waste of my time and seriously, cut me some slack, I don't need blank calls and messages or you laughing like a f*cking paedophile down the phone. TELL ME WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU WANT!" My voice had risen to a shout – thankfully, everyone was probably in their classes by now. My whole body was trembling due to the sudden anger and adrenaline.

The person huffed and (a/n I reaalllly want to put 'puffed' after that…) answered, "Hello to you to…"

Surprisingly, the voice seemed to belong to someone quite young – I was expecting more of a deep, scary threatening voice with all the 'ggrrrr' and jackassness…

"Let's get straight to the point…who are you? What do you want?"

His voice suddenly became serious, "I'm Isaac and I'm calling to warn you."

I laughed bitterly, "If I should trust you so much then why did you have to be all creep-o on me?"

Isaac let out an exasperated sigh, "Look, let's clear one thing – I didn't call you any time before this. All I'm asking of you is to stay safe and be cautious of who you mess with and who you are friends with. You'll never know who will turn against you."

"God – why should I trust you? Give me one reason."

"Max, you really don't remember do you?"

"…awahhaatt..?"

"OK, when you go home just ask your mom who I am…maybe then you'll remember."

"Fine then. Moving on…what situation have I actually gotten myself into…"

"I'll make it brief for now but, obviously, there's a lot more…Basically, you know your dad went into prison, right?"

"Uhuh."

"Well, he's still in prison but…he…has connections. These 'connections' want you because, to them, you're, how do I put it, 'valuable'. You are the eldest of Jeb's children and the more tough one –"

"Right now, I'm one of Jeb's ONLY children. If you seem to know me THAT much then you must know about Ari."

Isaac's voice seemed a little strained, "Yeah Max, I do know about Ari – probably more than I should."

I was awfully confused, "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Look, I have to go…NOW."

"Bye…?"

"I promise to tell you everything bit by bit. Bye."

"Why –" Isaac hung up on me before I wanted to ask the 'killer question' – WHY. Why were Jeb's 'connections' doing this – what the hell was their motive? And, Ari – my sweet, little, Ari. Is it possible that he is still alive? Was that what Isaac was implying? NO. Ari is DEAD…he can't possibly be alive.

'Maybe he can…after all, his body wasn't actually found. And, besides, who said you can't dream of possibilities?' I thought to myself.

If Ari was alive…what would he look like? Would he have changed ? Will he still be my little Ari or is he now grown up? Would he even remember me?

Tears threatened to spill – partially due to the happiness that Ari MAY be alive…and partially because he may not be alive at all…that Isaac wasn't implying that at all. I slumped against the sinks and slid down to the floor. No point in going to class now – what would I say and how would I even cope in the state I was in?

Suddenly, the door opened and I jerked. I looked up to see who it was.

"You know, hiding in the toilets never works – trust me, I've tried it a million times." I could hear the smirk in her voice. It was that girl from registration – Courtney.

I let out a bitter laugh, "So have I but, right now, there's not really anywhere else I can go."

I looked up at her and she gasped at my current state. My face was probably a mess – with the full water works, red eyes, puffy nose, rosy cheeks – you get the idea.

Her sarcastic look was replaced with one of concern, she crouched down to my level, "What on earth happened?"

"Nothing. Nothing happened." I replied bitterly. I wasn't planning on letting anyone else into my life again. Frankly, the thing with Fang didn't seem to go too well and now between us, the atmosphere was worse than awkward – it was like…the awkward turtle was having babies (a/n yeah, I had to use that one – my friend told me about it the other day and now I'm obsessed with it).

"Look, you must be Max right? –" I gave her a face which screamed 'stalker', "Don't give me that look, Iggy told me about you before class. OK, Max, you need to learn to let people into your life -obviously, not too many, but people who you can trust – you never know how it may help."

"You seem to be saying that from experience…"

She cocked her head thoughtfully, "Yeah, you could say that… but, that's a story for another time. What I'm trying to tell you is that you need to learn to trust people, Max. However crazy or diabolical that may seem to you, it'll help you more than anything." Courtney gave a genuine smile and I instantly knew that I had made a new friend.

The next few minutes seemed like a strange sense of déjà vu. Like with Fang, I couldn't resist Courtney's honesty and kindness. During all of my school experiences, nobody actually treated me like a true friend – I was always 'the girl who kept to herself' or 'the girl with the bad reputation'.

I told her everything, even the bits which I didn't tell Fang. I told her about Ari, Jeb, the fights, Isaac and even, dare I say it, Fang.

When I finished telling her, she thought about it for a bit to process the sudden amount of information.

"Well…" I urged her for a reply.

"What I think you should do is be cool with Fang – after all, for all the years I've known him he's never betrayed anyone and will always keep your secrets safe. And yes, before you ask, I've known Fang and Iggy for God knows how long. Secondly, ask your mom about Isaac – you need to know more about him so you can make a clear judgement if he's ok or not. The issue of your dad…well, that's up to Isaac to tell you, he seems to be up to date with sorta thing. But, be careful, you don't really know who he is and how he knows your phone number – take cautious steps when you're talking to him, never let out unnecessary information. Well, that's as far as I can go with helping you…"

All this kindness was a bit too much for me to process so it was slightly awkward when it came to thanking Courtney. She laughed it off and said that 'we could be great friends.' And, for one of the few times in my life, I seriously believed that.

**A/N Hiyaaaaa. Sooo a bit surprised there – I UPLOADED…LIKE TWICE IN ONE WEEK. I'm proud of myself – like totally. I hope you liked that chapter, peeepps. I was gonna make it longer but it would've made more sense if it was one chapter on its own. So, before I go and do some homework, I've got some questions…**

**What do you make of Isaac and who can he possibly be?**

**ARI! Woahh…what do you thinks gonna happen to him?**

**How much do you hate Jeb – grrr? That man is totally evil.**

**What are your opinions on this chapter and how the story is going so far?**

**Well, that's it for now – sowwwwy no randomness in this authors note – its 8:30pm and I haven't done ANY homework yet. Ooppss. Yeah..its a realy bummer – its raining here… A LOT. AND ITS SUMMER. WELL… THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR LIVING IN ENGLAND…**

**Pssst…PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I was a bit disappointed with the number of reviews for the last chapter…*sniff sniff* BUT THANKS TO THOSE WHO DID REVIEW *HUGS***

**Thanks!**

**Lotsa love, **

**LiveLifeLOUDxoxo :) **


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter (I have no clue)**

**DISCLAIMER – I AM NOT JAMES PATTERSON (believe me?)**

After Courtney had left me to fend for myself in the dark wilderness called the women's toilets, I sat alone quietly thinking things through – should I really tell mom about Isaac? Would that really be such a great idea? Fang was other story….should I man up and tell him how I felt or should I just carry on and act as if the kiss had never happened?

I sighed deeply and pushed myself up; the bell wasn't going to go anytime soon and I guess it would be a good idea if I got my ass in gear and go to class.

I pushed open the door and made my way through the vacant hallway; with every step I took it felt as if I was carrying lead weights on my feet.

All eyes turned on me as I stepped into the classroom; an old man standing in front of the classroom was the first to speak up, "What a pleasure for you to grace us with your presence. Class started an hour ago."

His eyes fixed on me with a cold glare and I was silently hoping that Mr Lockwood would jump up and yell, "SURPRISE!" instead of leaving me with this douche of a substitute.

"I wasn't feeling well," I answered bluntly.

"Just take your seat next to Ms. Heavens," he motioned over to the empty seat next to Nudge who was beaming a 100 watt smile my way.

I inwardly groaned and made my way towards Nudge, silently wishing that I was sitting next to Fang. I looked over to where he was sitting next to that that…that…thing (who also goes by the name of Brigid). He noticed my gaze on him and locked his dark eyes with mine, sending shivers down my spine. I quickly looked away and thought to myself, "Max, you're not supposed to be feeling this way - he's your best friend!"

I sighed and raked back the tacky, red plastic chair and sat down on it, not bothering to respond to Nudge who was now looking at me in concern rather than her usual beaming grin.

The lesson passed by in a blur and I didn't even bother to finish the work we had been set because, in my opinion, hours and hours of Romeo and Juliet analysis work was not the first thing on my mind at the moment… Instead, I started blurting my feelings through a song (disclaimer: I do not own these lyrics, they belong to Paramore):

_I am outside_

_And I've been waiting for the sun_

_With my wide eyes_

_I've seen worlds that don't belong_

_My mouth is dry with words I cannot verbalize_

_Tell me why we live like this_

_Keep me safe inside_

_Your arms like towers_

_Tower over me_

_Yeah_

_Cause we are broken_

_What must we do to restore_

_Our innocence_

_And oh, the promise we adored _

_Give us life again cause we just wanna be whole_

_Lock the doors –_

I instantly stopped writing when I sensed a presence behind me; I looked behind and saw Fang gazing curiously over my shoulder. I quickly folded the piece of paper and stuffed it in my bag. I looked around and saw that everyone was streaming out the classroom and I was alone with Fang.

I tried to ignore him and stuffed my bag as quickly as I could, eager to get away as quickly as possible.

As soon as I got up from my chair, I felt a hand on my shoulder, "Max, please, will you talk to me?"

I looked down, trying to hide the sadness running through me, "I don't know what you mean."

Fang gently pushed my chin up, causing me to look into his, dark, onyx eyes, "Max, if this is about Brigid then you're just being stupid. Heck, I was being stupid."

"What do you mean?" I asked softly.

"I broke up with Brigid this morning, on the way to English because…because…she wasn't worth it - she was coming between us and I couldn't afford that."

A strange rush of joy passed through me, "You did that? For us?"

He nodded his head, his lips twitching as if he wanted to smile.

Before I went berserk, I threw my arms around him, enveloping him in a warm embrace. He stood rigid for a few seconds but then relaxed and responded the gesture. We stayed like that for a few moments until I pulled back, "We um need to get to uhr class now…"

Gosh, what was happening to me? I never acted like this around boys.

Fang smirked, "Who says we have to go to class?"

If I were a good girl, I would've gone all motherly on him and say that skipping class was for no good-doers but instead I said, "Hell yeah, let's get this bitch on the road!"

Fang chuckled lightly before we both sprinted outside to the parking lot and got into his black Volkswagen.

"So uhr where are we going to go?" I asked awkwardly.

Fang looked at me and smiled secretly, "It's a secret."

And with those three words he raced off at an incredibly dangerous speed.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for adrenaline but seriously, I do NOT trust a teenage boy driving like a maniac (I only trust myself behind the wheel…)

For the whole ride I was glued to my seat while Fang was concentrating on driving. My head occasionally banged against the window at sharp turns but Fang took no notice and continued to speed on.

We came to a stop in front of a forest full of…well...trees.

I looked over at Fang and asked bluntly, "You bought me to a bunch of trees? Seriously? Don't tell me this is gonna be one of those cheesy Twilight moments when you bring me to a special place where you don't allow anyone to go…"

Fang rolled his eyes, "No, you half-wit, I'm bringing you here because I want to show you something else. "

"What is exactly 'something else'?"

He didn't respond and started walking into the depths of the forest; I took this as a signal to follow so I hurriedly trailed behind him like a lost puppy. After a long, tiring, 10 minutes we finally arrived at a …really crappy cabin.

I looked at Fang who was taking out a key and unlocked the door.

He looked back at me and said, "Are you gonna stand there like a moron or come inside?"

I huffed and climbed up to steps to the cabin. Inside, the cabin was much cosier than the outside; it had two couches, a fluffy rug and a brown coffee table. Aside from the usual furniture, there were guitar amps, a keyboard, a drum set, an acoustic guitar, a bass guitar, posters of rock bands all over the walls and piles of manuscript paper– basically, it was a musicians' dream cabin.

I looked around and gaped in awe (something that happens very rarely), "Is this all yours?"

Fang snorted, "God, no, this is mine, Iggy's and our friend, Isaac's."

My eyes widened and I froze, "Isaac?"

"Yeah, why? Do you know him?" Fang looked at me in confusion.

"No, no, no..it's just that uhr the name seems familiar…" I said hastily. Oh, come on Max, there must a million people called Isaac in this world, I thought to myself.

Fang ignored me and sat into the couches, I followed him and surveyed each part of the small room, "So, are you in a band?"

Fang nodded, "Yeah but we needed another vocalist and…we were wondering if you wanted to..?"

I shifted uncomfortably, "I don't think so- I don't really play an instrument and I don't really sing…"

"Come on, give it a try – I saw what you were writing and it was amazing."  
I looked up at him in surprise, "Really?"

He nodded and faintly smiled, "So could you?"

I reluctantly agreed and he went over and picked up an acoustic guitar, "So, what do you want to sing?"

I thought for a moment and replied, "Hmm…how about Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls?"

He nodded and began strumming, filling the silence with the beautiful sound of the music. I cleared my throat and began_, "And I'd give up forever to touch you_

_'Cause I know that you feel me somehow_

_You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be_

_And I don't want to go home right now_

_And all I can taste is this moment_

_And all I can breathe is your life_

_'Cause sooner or later it's over_

_I just don't want to miss you tonight,"_

I looked at Fang and saw how beautiful he looked as he was strumming that guitar, his eyes gleaming with happiness as he was lost in the music.

"_And I don't want the world to see me_

_'Cause I don't think that they'd understand_

_When everything's made to be broken_

_I just want you to know who I am_

_And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming_

_Or the moment of truth in your lies_

_When everything feels like the movies_

_Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive_

_And I don't want the world to see me_

_'Cause I don't think that they'd understand_

_When everything's made to be broken_

_I just want you to know who I am_

_And I don't want the world to see me_

_'Cause I don't think that they'd understand_

_When everything's made to be broken_

_I just want you to know who I am_

_And I don't want the world to see me_

_'Cause I don't think that they'd understand_

_When everything's made to be broken_

_I just want you to know who I am_

_I just want you to know who I am_

_I just want you to know who I am_

_I just want you to know who I am"_

Towards the last verse I kept my eyes locked with Fang's, I didn't dare to look away because I never wanted that moment of happiness to end. Nothing could compare to what I was feeling and, deep inside, I knew that I was going to fall for Fang – I was going to fall in too deep and no one could save me…Because, at that moment, I didn't want anything else but his love.

**A/N **

**ALL RIGHTS TO THE LYRICS ABOVE GO T PARAMORE AND THE GOO GOO DOLLS!**

**WOWEEEE It's been a WHILE hasn't it? So, I had a huge writer's block for this and then I sorta gave up because I was focusing on my stories on Wattpad (go check them out! The link is on my profile) AND I couldn't really fit any updates in with my work. So, I finished my English coursework draft thing and was like, "I'm so gonna continue writing this."**

**I have whole new road on where to take this and I have a few amazing tricks up my sleeve which I hope you guys are looking forward to!**

**I was looking back at the start of this story and I was honestly cringing BIG TIME because my writing has changed…a lot. Oh gosh…So, I have two questions:**

**Would you guys like me to re write the start of the story or just edit it a bit or are you ok with it?**

**ADNNDNDNDD do you want me to continue with this story?**

**Thanks for the support and toot toot my lovelies, **

**LiveLifeLOUDxoxo **


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